


Snow Lily

by Sneer



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls Online
Genre: Crushes, F/F, F/M, Ficlet, Gen, Lyris has broken my kokoro, Pet Names, Spoilers, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 00:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9098398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sneer/pseuds/Sneer
Summary: The Vestige doesn't approve of Sai Sahan's nickname for Lyris.





	

“You don’t look so good, Sai. We can take a moment to rest if you need it.”

“Fret not, Snow Lily, I am well.” Gasped the Redguard.

The Vestige turned to Tharn with a rare look of genuine disgust on her feline face and whispered, “ _Snow Lily?”_

Tharn smirked unpleasantly and although he had been rolling his eyes at the saccharine display just moments before, his expression did not suggest that he was laughing _with_ her. Huffing, she turned from him only to find Lyris giving her a side-eyed look that appeared almost hurt and that nearly made the Vestige regret mocking Sai’s pet name for her. Nearly, but not quite. To prove it, she marched over to Sai and began prodding him with questions about Sancre Tor.

Tharn continued to smirk at her whenever the Vestige looked back at him for the rest of the journey.

 

Later, back at the Harboring, after the Vestige had left to do whatever it is adventurers do when they’re not fighting necromantic cults and deadric princes, Lyris scolded Tharn for having a bad influence on the Vestige.

“And what makes you think I had anything to do with it?”

“It’s just not like her! Openly mocking people for expressing any more emotion than a dead fish is something you would do, and have. Repeatedly. Clearly you’re rubbing off on her and I don’t like it! I won’t have the Vestige become as bitter and cynical as you, Tharn.” The half-giant squared her shoulders, accentuating the great difference in size between them.

As though that had ever stopped Abnur before. “Oh calm down, the Vestige is just smarting because she got her _feeling_ hurt. If she had been a Tharn you could expect a lot more than a few snide remarks and sour faces for having scorned her, believe me.”

“What are you talking about, Tharn?” Sai thought he might already know, but needed to ask regardless.

“The Vestige has a crush on the she-mammoth. Divines only know why but there’s no accounting for taste I suppose.”

“What?” Lyris sounded genuinely surprised by this.

“Oh don’t act so surprised, surely you’ve noticed the way she looks at you with those wide, kitten eyes. Always wanting to talk to you, maybe even get close enough for a _friendly_ bump or touch. When you hugged her, after she rescued Sai Sahan, any sane person would have feared for their ribs but she just melted in your arms...” Tharn could see the exact moment on Lyris’s face when she finally got a clue. He scoffed, “You really are oblivious aren’t you? Perhaps the Vestige should be a little harder on you.”

“That’s not true.” Lyris protested rather unconvincingly. “You’re making this up- you have to be!”

“Of course. A beautiful Nordic warrior sacrifices herself to save a young maiden from the hellish prison of a deadric prince and then joins her in a quest to save all of Nirn? How could any hot blooded young woman ever possibly develop feelings under those kinds of circumstances!” Tharn’s sarcasm was perhaps a little heavy but when dealing with giants and half giants it was usually necessary to get the point across.

Sai sat quietly, the sympathy in his expression obvious even past the beard.

“I...,” Lyris began uncertainly,” need to speak to her.” Then turned around and marched towards the entrance as though she might still catch the Vestige.

Tharn shook his head as she went. Brave woman, but terribly thick. What Sai or the Vestige saw in her was beyond his comprehension.

Sai left moments later to find a quiet place to oil and sharpen his father’s sword.

 

Lyris found the Vestige sitting on the beach, admiring the sea shells she’d gathered from the sands.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

The Vestige startled and began fidgeting with a shell that had cracked and left a sharp, ragged edge,” This one did not think you’d even noticed.”

She hadn’t but Lyris figured it would be cruel to admit that it was Tharn who had pointed it to her. Instead she said,” You mean a lot to me. Sai and I...I don’t know what we’re doing exactly. How we feel about each other. But even if it turns out there’s nothing there...I still don’t think anything could have happened between us.”

The Vestige nodded, eyes fixed on the broken shell.

Lyris added, “You’re very important to me.”

“She understands.”

“I just don’t feel that way about you.”

The Vestige muttered something to her hands.

“What was that? I couldn’t quite...”

“...Are we still friends?”

“I hope so.”

“And...Sai?”

Lyris was quick to reassure her, “Sai still considers you a friend to.” Not that the Nord had asked him such, but if Lyris knew Sai Sahan than she knew that it was true.

When they fell into silence, Lyris gave a gentle squeeze to the Vestige’s shoulder and left her alone.

The Vestige tried to return to sorting out her gathered sea shells but her hands were shaking too badly to hold the delicate pieces. Eventually she set her work aside and gave into the tears.

**Author's Note:**

> I may have developed a bit of a crush on Lyris Titanborn and also possibly shipped her with my Vestige for a time...And then we rescued Sai Sahan and I suddenly regretted taking Lyris with me to save him.
> 
> In the original version, I started with a female khajiit Vestige but then changed it later to a more generic Vestige so anyone could see their character in there, but that wasn't satisfying to me so I went and changed it back.


End file.
